If you run, why do you do it? If you ride, why?

[cheapie]

I love biking. Both road and mountain. I'm not a big fan of team sports, mostly because I'm not really good at most of them. But I like running and biking. (altho' by looking at me you wouldn't be able to tell. :rolleyes: )

If you like endurance sports, what draws you to them? I was reading Lance Armstrong's book, It's Not About the Bike (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0425179613/qid=1080570233/sr=8-1/ref=pd_ka_1/103-1392754-4101437?v=glance&s=books&n=507846) (prolly one of my top 10 books) and he said something that I totally identified with.


cycling is so hard, the suffering is so intense, that it's absolutely cleansing. you can go out there with the weight of the world on your shoulders, and after a six-hour ride at a high pain threshold, you feel at peace. the pain is so deep and strong that a curtain descends over your brain. at least for a while you have a kind of hall pass, and don't have to brood on your problems; you can shut everything else out because the effort and subsequent fatique are absolute.

there is an unthinking simplicity in something so hard, which is why there probably some truth to the idea that all world-class athletes are actuall running away from something. once, someone asked me what pleasure i took in riding for so long. "pleasure?" i said. "i don't understand the question." i didn't do it for the pleasure. i did it for the pain.

pain is temporary. it may last a minute, or an hour, or a year, but eventually is will subside and something else will take its place. if i quit, however, it last forever. that surrender, even the smallest act of giving up, stays with me. so when i feel like quitting, i ask myself, which would i rather live with? facting upto that question, and finding a way to go on, is the real reward, better than any trophy.

by now you've figured out that i'm into pain. why? because it's self-revalatory. there's a point in every race when a rider encounters his real opponent and discovers that it's himself. in my most painful moments on the bike, i am at my most curious, and i wonder each and every time how i will respond. will i discover my innermost weakness, or will i seek out my innermost strength. it's an open-ended question whether or not i will be able to finish the race. you might say pain is my chosen way of exploring the human heart.

this is exactly how i feel. i suffer immensely when i ride or run. it's painful. i feel like quiting the whole time. but i feel clean, relaxed, and fulfilled afterwards.

just wondered what motivates you....

[cheapie]

Originally posted by DarkFury
how did this end up in the "Softer side"? :shrug:

BTW... I used to bike when I was younger, but don't do much of that now.



ummm....not sure. i guess cuz it's less about biking and more about emotions, motivation, and health.

[cheapie]

feel free to move it if you feel it should be elsewhere

[molecularfire]

Originally posted by cheapie
I love biking. Both road and mountain. I'm not a big fan of team sports, mostly because I'm not really good at most of them. But I like running and biking. (altho' by looking at me you wouldn't be able to tell. :rolleyes: )

If you like endurance sports, what draws you to them? I was reading Lance Armstrong's book, It's Not About the Bike (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0425179613/qid=1080570233/sr=8-1/ref=pd_ka_1/103-1392754-4101437?v=glance&s=books&n=507846) (prolly one of my top 10 books) and he said something that I totally identified with.

[quote]cycling is so hard, the suffering is so intense, that it's absolutely cleansing. you can go out there with the weight of the world on your shoulders, and after a six-hour ride at a high pain threshold, you feel at peace. the pain is so deep and strong that a curtain descends over your brain. at least for a while you have a kind of hall pass, and don't have to brood on your problems; you can shut everything else out because the effort and subsequent fatique are absolute.

there is an unthinking simplicity in something so hard, which is why there probably some truth to the idea that all world-class athletes are actuall running away from something. once, someone asked me what pleasure i took in riding for so long. "pleasure?" i said. "i don't understand the question." i didn't do it for the pleasure. i did it for the pain.

pain is temporary. it may last a minute, or an hour, or a year, but eventually is will subside and something else will take its place. if i quit, however, it last forever. that surrender, even the smallest act of giving up, stays with me. so when i feel like quitting, i ask myself, which would i rather live with? facting upto that question, and finding a way to go on, is the real reward, better than any trophy.

by now you've figured out that i'm into pain. why? because it's self-revalatory. there's a point in every race when a rider encounters his real opponent and discovers that it's himself. in my most painful moments on the bike, i am at my most curious, and i wonder each and every time how i will respond. will i discover my innermost weakness, or will i seek out my innermost strength. it's an open-ended question whether or not i will be able to finish the race. you might say pain is my chosen way of exploring the human heart.[quote]

this is exactly how i feel. i suffer immensely when i ride or run. it's painful. i feel like quiting the whole time. but i feel clean, relaxed, and fulfilled afterwards.

just wondered what motivates you....
Wow... that's one of the most beautiful posts I've ever heard. Mind if I steal it?

[cheapie]

Originally posted by molecularfire

Wow... that's one of the most beautiful posts I've ever heard. Mind if I steal it?


i screwed up the quote feature. it's actually from the book. i wish i could claim it as my own but it's lance's take on things. so it's all yours!

[Jeffbx]

I run... I do a 10k 3-4x a week just to stay healthy. I don't do it for the pain - I do it for the good feeling I get when the pain stops.

I get what he means, but for me it's easier to push through pain just because you know it'll stop & you'll be better off because of it. Also, the more you run the further out the pain is, so I guess I keep running to actually reduce the pain.

[RoniMan]

umm...i don't run for a couple of reasons...

1) when i was growing up, my mom was afraid of me getting beat up (well, i was skinny, and short, and basically, a geek)...so she made me get up at 6am and run a mile everyday...not the fondest of memories...

2) one day, i got chased by two HUGE dogs (one great dane, and one other dog, but i forgot what it was)...my stupid ass kept running (b/c i would get in trouble if i went home early, so i didn't know what to do, i just kept running)...so that REALLY turned me off to running...

3) i tore my ACL 6 years ago, and can't do too strenuous exercises, without my knee popping.

so i don't run...but i still do it, and when i had a bike, i rode too. but my main way to get in "pain" is vball.

i agree with armstrongs quote...and it's like what brad pitt said in fight club "how much can a man know himself until he's been in a fight?" i've never been in a fight, but i've pushed myself to the limit, and it IS very cleansing...there's no greater feeling than to be the underdog, and outlast your opponent...

i was in a double's grass tournament, and my partner and i were unknowns. everyone else seemed to have played for a long time, and my partner and i only played in about 3 tourneys prior. oh btw, i'm 5'7, and my double's partner is a 5'10" girl (the shortest guy there was prob 5'10, and the shortest girl was probably 5'10" as well)...so no one batted an eye when we walked up. i played my heart out that game...unfortunately, we lost in the finals...but when i we finished the game, EVERYONE clapped and came up to me and told me what a great game i played...it was such a great feeling. the next day, when i fell out of bed b/c i was in complete pain and couldn't move any limbs!

[harvardian]

endorphins...

I used to do endurance swimming. Pain during, but the best natural high afterwards. I used to enhance the high with a bit of caffeine. Food also tasted much better afterwards.

[look_ma]

When I was young all I would do is bike ride. When I could drive I basically stopped exercising. Recently within the past couple months I started to run a mile at night once a week with my great dane. We go anywhere between midnight or later, usually the coolest and least traffic. The only way I ever got myself to run was so that the dog would get exercise. Now I do it to relieve stress and physical self improvement. Since I started running I started to eat better, and do other exercises. I have lost about 20-25 pounds and I am looking alot better, and feeling better too.

[Kevster]

Originally posted by RoniMan

i agree with armstrongs quote...and it's like what brad pitt said in fight club "how much can a man know himself until he's been in a fight?" i've never been in a fight, but i've pushed myself to the limit, and it IS very cleansing...there's no greater feeling than to be the underdog, and outlast your opponent...



I have been trying get back into running and cycling again. I used to be a very avid runner, MTB'er and ultimate frisbee player in college. I have played in many organized team sports and individual sports. I started studying martial arts, mainly Judo, after college. Judo is quite addictive as I have learned many techniques and developed my Judo over the many years I have studied it. I have found it very invigorating and fun - a perfect way to drain off stress. Unfortunately, thanks to Judo I am currently nursing a strained/impinged shoulder and a pulled left hamstring. I have a really high tolerance for pain, but the pain from the shoulder forced me to take a little of the big stuff to keep it from continually aching.

I am in this somewhat continuous cycle of healing/training/injury/healing/training/injury that is starting to take its toll on me. When I saw my doctor after I injured my shoulder again a couple weeks ago, he took one look at my file and saw that 4 out of the last 5 visits were because of sports injuries. He suggested I try something else "less impacting to my physical health". I love Judo. I have been studying it for many years and to give it up is a little unnerving. Right now I go to practice and just watch and learn - I can't stand it sometimes because I want to get out there on the mat. Sensei Hal Sharp, one of the legends in Judo, sat down and was talking with me for about an hour last Thursday night. He is a 6th-dan and has been studying Judo for almost 50 years. When I talk to people like him I don't ever want to leave Judo.

So like every other time I have injured myself in a particular activity I usually just switched to something else for the time being until I healed up sufficiently. I think this time though I will be able to make a few adjustments in my techniques so I don't re-injure my shoulder so quickly.

[InfiniteNothing]

I ride because gas prices are just too high.

[cheapie]

Originally posted by InfiniteNothing
I ride because gas prices are just too high.


you drive a focus!

[kimchicowboy]

i love mt biking. especially after i ate it for the first time on a single-track trail, i thought it was so much fun! it's great to be able to bike with a friend screaming down a hill. i do mt. biking for the exhiliration.

i want to try road biking (like that trek you have, cheapie) for the exercise. there are some peaceful backroads i could take and i think it'd be kinda nice.

running: it's good, but i get pain around my clavicle and it sucks.

[InfiniteNothing]

Originally posted by cheapie



you drive a focus!

It can get pretty bad milage in the city. Highway isn't too bad (low 30s). Still, it's all very expensive for a poor college student.

[kimchicowboy]

Originally posted by InfiniteNothing


It can get pretty bad milage in the city. Highway isn't too bad (low 30s). Still, it's all very expensive for a poor college student.
the south korean gov't might make citizens not drive their cars every 10 days to help save their emergency oil reserve.

man, kinda glad i left CA when i did. :D

[ski]

For me, it's all about runner's high :bandit:

[cheapie]

Originally posted by kimchicowboy
i love mt biking. especially after i ate it for the first time on a single-track trail, i thought it was so much fun! it's great to be able to bike with a friend screaming down a hill. i do mt. biking for the exhiliration.

i want to try road biking (like that trek you have, cheapie) for the exercise. there are some peaceful backroads i could take and i think it'd be kinda nice.

running: it's good, but i get pain around my clavicle and it sucks.


mtn biking will always be my first love but there is NOTHING like screaming down a hill on some country road at 30-40+mph with only the sound of the wind and the tires humming. no engine, no chatter from the chain.

[ugotcarrie]

wow

[cheapie]

Originally posted by ugotcarrie
wow



snowbird? as in utah?

[InfiniteNothing]

Originally posted by kimchicowboy

the south korean gov't might make citizens not drive their cars every 10 days to help save their emergency oil reserve.

man, kinda glad i left CA when i did. :D

Because it's cheaper where you are now?